The Life of a Son-in-Law in a Courtyard House

Lieutenant Lan left, and Yang Dalin pushed his bicycle into the yard.

Grandma Wang was sitting at the doorway, basking in the sun.

Yang Dalin had just offered to help carry the medicinal herbs, but he didn't let Wang Dama do it.

The men quickly took it all in one or two trips; it really wasn't worth it for Aunt Wang to steal it.

Yang Dalin also gave candy to the children from the other two families.

After the children happily thanked Yang Dalin.

Yang Dalin and Aunt Wang went into their house.

After chatting with Aunt Wang for a while, Yang Dalin took out some fine grains, a pheasant, and a leg of lamb from his backpack.

Knowing that Dalinzi wanted to exchange things again, Aunt Wang happily said, "Dalinzi, look around, take whatever you like inside."

Yang Dalin pointed to the vase he had seen last time and said, "This one will do, ma'am, as we agreed last time."

Aunt Wang also asked, "Is this bottle really worth that much money? Don't exchange it at a loss."

The old lady knows that Dalin has a kind heart and is trying to help us, but she can't let you lose too much.

Or take a few more items.

Anyway, we'll be moving a lot of these odds and ends and won't need them.

Yang Dalin shook his head and said, "That's enough, Aunt Wang. I didn't suffer any loss, so don't worry."

Please keep an eye on my wine; I need to make medicinal wine from it later.

Tell the children in the yard not to move around.

"I'll take two wild rabbits later, one to each family, and ask them to keep an eye on them, okay, Auntie?"

Aunt Wang said kindly, "Why not? They are both honest and law-abiding families, and they have had a good relationship with us as neighbors for many years."

Don't worry, I'll lock the cellar in a bit, then the children won't be able to get in.

I'll give you a key in a bit.

"So, you're going to take two more wild rabbits, right...?"

Yang Dalin patted Wang Dama's hand and said, "It's alright, Auntie, I hunted this rabbit meat myself, it didn't cost me any money."

It wasn't bought.

Aunt Wang was finally relieved.

Yang Dalin took out two more wild rabbits from his backpack, one in each hand, and walked towards the Li family's house in the west wing.

The mistress of the house in the west wing, her mother, and several children were at home.

Seeing Yang Dalin arrive with a rabbit, they asked them to keep an eye on the cellar and prevent the children from going in to play and spilling the wine.

These are all for making medicinal wine.

The family agreed very readily.

Not to mention, Yang Dalin also gave him a wild rabbit as a gift.

Yang Dalin then went to the Hou family's house in Daozuofang.

Using the same excuse, Hou's wife also said that if any children dared to misbehave, she would personally break their legs.

Both families are easy to get along with.

Yang Dalin heated the kang (heated brick bed) in the east wing one last time, checked the smoke exhaust, then brought over a set of bedding and some other things so that the room could be occupied.

Ma San has already bought the firewood.

I can come and stay here occasionally.

If I have to work overtime or get off work late in the future, I can stay here.

It's a nice little courtyard, not many people, and the neighbors aren't too nosy.

It's much better than the communal courtyard at No. 95.

Yang Dalin chatted with Aunt Wang for a while longer before leaving.

It was still early, and the freight station was nearby, so Yang Dalin decided to go there to find Qi Desheng.

Let's see if Qi Desheng got what he deserved last night.

However, it was a bit dangerous for him to go alone, so he went to the Tian family and called Tian Xueyi.

Brother Tian is off today too. When Yang Dalin went there, Brother Tian was sitting at home drinking a little wine.

Life was good, but then he heard Yang Dalin's purpose.

Tian Xueyi became interested: "Let's go, let's go together, we have to get that gun from him."

That son of a bitch, he's been showing off that high-ranking officer's pistol to me for years.

Yang Dalin carried Tian Xueyi and rode to the freight station in just a few minutes.

As soon as Yang Dalin pushed open the door to Qi Desheng's office, he saw Qi Desheng's dark circles under his eyes. Even though he was sitting, he kept touching his knees.

Looks like he got a good beating from his sister-in-law last night.

As soon as Yang Dalin entered, Qi Desheng shouted, "You son of a bitch, Yang Dalin, you still dare to come here!"

"I'll kick you to death!"

Just as Qi Desheng was about to rush over, Tian Xueyi stood directly in the middle and said, "What are you doing? Bullying the weak? Sit back down, you surnamed Qi."

Yang Dalin smiled and closed the door: "What wouldn't I dare to do, Brother Sheng?"

You won't go back on your promise from yesterday, will you?

Seeing that the opponent was two against one and he was at a disadvantage, Qi Desheng decided to deal with Yang Dalin when he faced him alone another day.

Frustrated, he sat down, lit a cigarette, and said, "How can I go back on my word? The wolf skin, wolf meat, and wolf bones you promised haven't arrived yet. Why should I give you the gun first?"

You're really something, learning to tattle at such a young age. In ancient times, you'd be considered a treacherous villain.

Yang Dalin chuckled: "Wolf skins need to be tanned, brother. It takes more than twenty days to a month to get them."

I can give you the wolf meat later. The wolf bones also need to be dried and processed before we can use them. I got a lot of wine from someone this morning.

Do you want wolf bones directly or wolf bone-infused liquor?

I also spent a lot of money on the wine and the herbs for making medicinal wine. The wine cost 1.3 yuan per jin, and the herbs added to the wine cost 0.5 yuan per jin.

"If you only want the wolf bones, then it's free. But if you want the soaked wolf bone wine, it's ten yuan per pound."

Qi Desheng's expression changed: "Damn it, you not only like to tattle, but you're also such a heartless person."

Ten yuan a pound? Why don't you just rob someone?

The cost is 1.8 yuan per jin (500g), and you're giving me 10 yuan per jin?

Yang Dalin nodded arrogantly and said, "That's right, I'm robbing them."

However, if you do the math, I didn't even calculate the cost of the wolf bones. Buying the liquor was another big effort; I had to ask people from the Navy Logistics Department for help to get the liquor from the Erguotou distillery.

They weren't originally planning to sell me good wine, only new wine.

Later, I had to put in a lot of effort to finally buy some aged liquor.

All of these must be factored into the cost.

Oh, by the way, I can also get some tiger bone wine and tiger penis wine with the wolf bone wine that costs ten yuan a pound.

Only two spots are available.

I've heard about its effects, wow...

Tian Xueyi and Qi Desheng exchanged a glance. Tiger penis wine, damn, this wolf bone wine that costs ten yuan a pound isn't so bad either.

Qi Desheng's expression changed instantly: "Hehe, Dalinzi, you still have tiger penis wine?"

How much tiger penis wine can I get with this 10 yuan per jin wolf bone wine?

I'll start with 100 yuan.

Seeing that Brother Tian was also looking at him curiously, Yang Dalin said, "Not much, just one or two ounces. You can't drink too much of that stuff. Someone told me that a person can only drink a maximum of five qian (a unit of weight) at a time. You can't drink too much."

"But this tiger penis wine is limited, let's talk about your gun first."

Qi Desheng was surprised to learn that it would cost ten yuan to buy one jin of wolf bone wine and one liang of tiger penis wine, which meant that it would cost one hundred yuan to buy eleven jin of wine.

Ten catties of wolf bone wine and one catty of tiger penis wine, that's a bit pricey.

Hearing Yang Dalin mention his gun again, and knowing his wife had already agreed to give it to him for free, he wondered if he could take advantage of the situation a little more.

Qi Desheng laughed and said, "Brother, I've brought the gun. I can give it to you. How about I give you more wine?"

Yang Dalin laughed heartily, knowing that once he mentioned tiger penis wine, the old man's expression would change.

Qi Desheng asked him, "What's wrong? What are you laughing at?"

Yang Dalin then said something harsh: "Brother Sheng, I don't want your gun anymore, I don't want it."

Keep it for yourself.

As for the wine, it's at this price, take it or leave it.